What we do

Our midwifery panel plays a hugely important role in giving us the straight-talking, high-level advice we need to make decisions that affect midwives and mothers right across the UK.

Established in November 2015, the panel meets four times a year and their discussions, debates and decisions are reported to our Council.

All of this work means that the voice of midwifery has a direct impact on the decisions we make.

Read the Midwifery Panel terms of reference to find out more about their purpose.

Previous meetings

Meet the members of the panel

The panel is made up of the Chief Nursing Officers from the four countries of the UK, representatives from our Council, the Royal College of Midwives and other leading midwifery figures.

Dr Anna van der Gaag CBE - Midwifery Panel Chair

Dr Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent OBE - Chief Midwifery Officer, NHS England

Ruth May - Chief Nursing Officer for England

Sue Tranka - Chief Nursing Officer for Wales

Professor Alex McMahon - Chief Nursing Officer for Scotland

Linda Kelly - Interim Chief Nursing Officer Northern Ireland.

Gill Walton - Chief Executive, Royal College of Midwives

Professor Mary Renfrew FRSE - University of Dundee

Cath Broderick - Lay member

Professor Janice Sigsworth - Director of Nursing at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

Leigh Kendall FRSA - Maternity campaigner and communications expert

Nicky Clark - Chair of Lead Midwife for Education Strategic Reference Group

Sascha Wells-Munro OBE - Deputy Chief Midwifery Officer, NHS England 

Karen Jewell - Nursing Officer for Maternity and Early Years, Office of the CNO Wales

Jacqui Williams MA, BSc(Hons), RM ADM, Dip AppSS - Senior Midwifery Education Advisor, Nursing and Midwifery Council

Verena Wallace MBE - Senior Midwifery Adviser (Policy), Nursing and Midwifery Council

Professor Gwendolen Bradshaw - Emeritus Professor, University of Bradford

Dr Janet Hirst - Head of the School of Healthcare, University of Leeds

Sally Ashton-May - Lead Midwife, Health Education England, East of England and National Team

Dr Dale Spence - Midwifery Advisor to the Department of Health, Northern Ireland

Wendy Olayiwola, BEM, FRSA MSc Public Health, BA (Hons), RN, BSc (Hons), RM, ILM - National Maternity Lead for Equality NHS England and NHS Improvement.  Professional Midwifery Advocate in a large NHS trust.  

Caitlin Wilson - Chair for the Royal College of Midwives Consultant Midwife Network

Nina Khazaezadeh - Deputy Regional Chief Midwife for London, NHS England